Electronic payments advanced in Romania in the first half of the year, fueled by the voucher websites, clothing and online donations. The volume of eCommerce in Romania was 38 percent higher in the first half of the year, up to some EUR 109.5 million. PayU and RomCard estimate the value of the market will exceed EUR 200 million this year.

The highest eCommerce volume months were March and May, when the volume exceeded EUR 20 million a month, according to PayU. The average value of a transaction in the RomCard system was slightly down, from EUR 62 in 2011 to EUR 57 this year.

The coupon websites had more than a two-fold increase in transactions, while the clothing sales were up 77 percent, and the online donations segment grew by 64 percent. Significant increases – between 25 and 50 percent were recorded in IT, services, utility payments, gifts and toys.

Payments through the PayU platform totaled some EUR 90.7 million in the first half of the year.

Romanians tend to buy more online at the end of the week and outside working hours. Around 38 percent of the orders were placed after 19:00 and 32 percent during the week-end, higher than the 30 and 28 percent respectively in the first half of 2011. Online payment support teams have also adapted to the shift, offering support and consultancy services outside normal working hours, according to PayU. “We're talking about a 30 percent increase in requests from clients of online stores during the mentioned periods,” said Andreia Stavarache, sales and marketing manager PayU Romania.

The biggest value transactions were recorded for photo cameras and accessories, some EUR 8,000, followed by a utilities bill of EUR 5,500 paid by a company, a EUR 5,000 holiday and a personal care products order of EUR 4,000.

The value of online transactions with cards issued in Romania was of EUR 800 million last year, out of which EUR 600 million were payments abroad, and the rest went into the local economy.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)